Nicolas Cage Signs on For David Gordon Green's 'Joe'

Is this it? Is David Gordon Green finally returning to making the films that made us fall in love with him? It definitely sounds like it, as Nicolas Cage has signed on for his latest project, a "gritty southern drama" called 'Joe.'

Just put the words "southern drama" and "David Gordon Green" in the same sentence and we're there. We fell head over heels for the director with films like 'All the Real Girls' and 'George Washington,' but his career took a decidedly stoner-friendly comedic turn with 'Pineapple Express' (good), 'Your Highness' (eh...), and last year's 'The Sitter' (the what? Oh yeah, that movie).

THR reports that Nicolas Cage has signed on for the director's latest effort, a film called 'Joe,' which sounds like everything David Gordon Green used to give us and then some. It follows an ex-con who forms an unlikely friendship with a 15 year old boy, the oldest of a homeless clan headed by an unruly, drunken father. The man and the boy embark down a path that will forever change their lives and shape who they are in Mississippi. Yes, we want all of this. Please give us 12 tickets, right now.

Based on the novel by Larry Brown and adapted for the big screen by Gary Hawkins, 'Joe' looks to be Green's next project after his upcoming remake of Dario Argento's 'Suspiria.' He also recently -- and secretly -- shot a film in Austin called 'Prince Avalanche,' starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.